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The Black Dog

Biography

Animating Detroit techno and electro-funk with the streamlined machinery of their native Sheffield, the Black Dog helped develop the style that would come to be known as intelligent dance music (IDM), along with Autechre and Aphex Twin. In its first incarnation, as Black Dog Productions, the group was comprised of Ken Downie, Ed Handley and Andy Turner. In the early '90s, they released several singles and LPs that challenged the coarsening U.K. rave scene with a more refined, even delicate approach. Temple of Transparent Balls and Parallel were heralded as instant classics (and for many years the out-of-print records fetched obscene prices at auction). In 1995, they joined the Warp label, recorded two albums and promptly split up, with Downie retaining control of the Black Dog name and Handley and Turner going on to found Plaid (also signed to Warp). Downie experimented with several lineups and took an extended hiatus before returning in 2005, now allied with Dust Science's Martin and Richard Dust; 2008 saw them reissuing a number of classic BDP albums via Glasgow's Soma label, as well as the Detroit Vs. Sheffield EP, featuring remixes from Robert Hood.